Tonight is the first night of The Proms 2026. Copland, Gershwin and Ravel launch this season.
Tomorrow night it's the turn of composers Emerson, Anderson, Banks, Hayward, Hammill, Oldfield, Zappa and Wright: in a Special Prog Rock Prom titled 'A Fanfare for the Common Man'. See the full programme here.
Many of the featured compositions have been Friday Star Tracks, so it's a popular selection performed by an orchestra and a band comprising of Carl Palmer and Peter Hammill along with Guy Garvey, Jane Weaver and Gruff Rhys. I'm sure you'll know most of the songs included.
To following the evening's title I've picked today Emerson, Lake & Palmer's version of 'Fanfare for the Common Man'. This is a shorten edit from the 9 minute original, which was the *Aaron Copland composition at the start and end with a 6 minute middle section added by Keith Emerson. Filmed at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
NB: This Prog Prom is scheduled for TV broadcast next Friday, 24th July on BBC4 and will be available on the iplayer from then.
One song in the programme I was not familiar with was 'Refugees' by Van der Graaf Generator, so I gave this poignant piece a listen and recommend you do too: (link here) - interesting video also.
*The 1942 original 3 minute classical piece is basically all 'Fanfare'. Here's a video with some fantastic images - fyi (click on)
Really enjoyed reading this post! The First Night of the Proms always feels like the perfect start to an incredible season of music, and you've captured the excitement very well. It's great to see classical music continuing to bring people together from different backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, while browsing music and culture blogs I also came across some useful everyday resources like MEPCO Bill Online, which helps users quickly check and download their electricity bills. It's always nice discovering helpful websites alongside interesting blog posts.
Looking forward to reading more of your updates throughout the Proms season!